Freight is a converted freight terminal at the Taxi development in River North

Good design looks even better when you know it came about during tough times. When the economy gets shaky so do people looking to build things.

That makes all of the projects recognized for merit this year by the Denver AIA even a little more special. Hats off to the architects and builders who kept their clients committed to high standards when they had to be getting nervous about costs.

There’s a long list of worthy endeavors here, including Tryba Architects swell parking garage at the Denver Botanic Gardens and RNL’s other-worldly National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden.

But here are two projects you might have missed and both are rich – mostly because the designers were able to see tremendous possibilities in existing, ordinary structures and turn them into interesting attractions and good neighbors.

A look inside Freight, photo by Ron Johnson

Freight, the latest bit of rehab magic at the Taxi site on Ringsby Court in River North, got a Merit Award for Built Architecture. Stephen Dynia Architects converted the 30,000-square-foot freight terminal into multi-tenant commercial space. Like other projects at Taxi, it was all about a tight budget and a wild imagination. The dominant materials: corrugated metal and orange paint. The cost was $85 per square foot, according to developer Kyle Zeppelin.

Another standout is the Cherry Creek North Medical Building, which also received a Merit Award for Built Architecture. This project, by and Sexton Lawton Architecture, has been around a while but it’s worth a drive by at 255 Detroit for sure. The front is a mix of transparent and translucent panels that manage to be inviting and private at the same time. That’s pretty much how you want your medical clinic to come off.

Here’s the official list of the lucky. It’s directly from the Denver AIA press release